THE COMMON SHRUBS OF SOUTHWEST COLORADO. 
3 BY ALICE EASTWOOD. 
At all seasons of the year the shrubs are the most noticeable part 
of the vegetation through Southwestern Colorado. Most of them 
are conspicuous not because of brilliant flowers and beautiful foliage, 
but for the reason that over large sections of country they form 
about the only vegetation that is not dried into dust by the hot 
summer days. 
For miles and miles the adobe plains are covered with a carpet of 
bluish green which at a distance might be mistaken for grass, but 
upon a nearer view it is seen that black sage ( Artemisia tridentata) 
almost monopolizes the soil. However, greasewood ( Sarcobatus 
vermiculatus ), rabbit brush (Bigelovia graveolens ), and salty sage 
(Atriplex canescens ) become almost as common in scattered spots. 
Generally they are not much more than a foot high, but in favor- 
able localities they often become eight or ten feet. In the winter, 
when the ground is covered with snow, they form the main subsist- 
ence of the cattle that roam at will over the land. 
Early in June, however, the hills and mesas seem suddenly to 
burst into bloom and the air is perfumed with the fragrance of my- 
triads of flowers. Peraphyllum ramosisimum is one of the earliest. 
Its beautiful clusters of pinkish flowers are followed by the queerest 
little bitter apples, commonly called ‘‘squaw apples.’’ This year 
the small bushes were loaded with fruit, but last year the late frosts 
destroyed almost all. Towering above every other shrub Fendlera 
rupicola exalts its flowery stems as if the delicate white flowers and 
pink buds were too etherial for the common air below. All its 
beauty is for the sun and stars. The earth looks upon rough scrag- 
gy stems, without even a leaf to cover their ugliness. The wood is 
exceedingly hard, dark colored and susceptible of a high polish. It 
is named ironwood, and may some day be used in the arts. Service 
berry (Amelanchier alnifolia) is also in bloom at this time and adds 
its snowy flowers to the hillside bouquet. Purshia tridentata and 
Cercocarpus parvifolius are common, but their flowers being almost 
the same color as the foliage, escape general attention. Owercus 
undulata, however, has already put forth its early leaves and the 
dense thickets glisten in the sunshine, the fresh light green foliage, 
with its glossy sheen, seeming almost transparent. Philadelphus 
